


Until the End

by SilverCardinal



Category: K (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Domestic, Established Relationship, M/M, Old men mikorei, Terminal Illnesses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-01
Updated: 2016-10-01
Packaged: 2018-08-18 19:35:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8173402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverCardinal/pseuds/SilverCardinal
Summary: For Mikorei week 2016! Day 4: HelplessIt starts with forgetting where he had placed his glasses.They survived the era of the Slates but they are still only human.
  中文





	

“We’re getting on in years,” Mikoto says one day.

Reisi looks up from his tea, “Yes, that is what happens when you live for some time.”

Mikoto hums as he lifts the side of his head into his hand.

“What is it?,” Reisi tilts his head slightly.

Those amber eyes he loves- still bright and haunting as always, even after all this time- crinkle as a gentle smile forms on Mikoto’s lips. “It’s funny”

“Hmm?” he takes another sip of tea.

“Did you ever think we would happen like this?”

Reisi chuckles, “If anyone told me I would end up growing old with you of all people…” he shakes his head, “ I would have most definitely laughed at them.”

“But here we are,” Mikoto is still smiling.

“Here we are,” he hums in agreement. Reisi takes a brief pause, “Having regrets, Suoh?”

“Ouch, last name.” Mikoto says playfully. “No. No regrets. You?”

Reisi smiles, “None at all.”

And when they kiss, it doesn’t matter how old they are. If feels exactly the same as the first time their lips met so many years ago.

* * *

“I can’t find my glasses.”

“Where did you put them?”

“I don’t remember.”

Mikoto puts down his fork onto the table. “Alright, I’ll help you look. Guess you’re gonna need them to see my handsome self.”

Reisi smirks, “Yes, that is exactly it.”

Moments later, Mikoto calls him to their bedroom. “They were on the nightstand,” he says “did you really not check here?”

“Suppose I’m going senile,” Reisi murmurs with a shy smile as he slides the frames on.

The other man rises an eyebrow, “Just don’t go batshit on me. I’m gonna need you to take care of me when _I_ start forgetting these things.”

And they laugh.

* * *

The boiling water misses the mug completely and splashes across the table. “Dammit,” he hisses as steam begins to rise.

Mikoto puts down his own mug and grabs a towel. “Oi Reisi,” he says as he carefully mops up the spill, “keep this up and you’ll be just as uncoordinated as me.”

“I would have to think that I still have ways to go if that’s the case,” Reisi retorts as he places the teapot in the sink.

The other man chuckles, “Yeah I guess so.” he pauses, “Remember two weeks ago, when we were in bed and I-”

“Don’t remind me,” Reisi lets out a long groan, “That was very painfully.”

Mikoto with an amused expression continues, “Yeah well, just don’t become as inept with your body parts as I am. Who else would take care of me then?”

“Why do I love you?”, he sighs.

“Cause me and my creaking joints are irresistible.”

A pause. “I suppose I can’t argue with that” he muses.

“Exactly,” Mikoto tosses the towel near the sink. “So, you wanna hear more of these creaking joints?” he says lowly.

“Aren’t we a bit too old for innuendos?”

“Our entire relationship is based from innuendos, Reisi” he scoffs, “You with me?”

He purses his lips, “I’m with you.”

Mikoto smiles as he takes his hand, “Just don’t spill any water on me,” he chortles and leads him to the bedroom.

The comment earns him a slap on the shoulder but Reisi has a light smile on his face and Mikoto doesn’t mind.

* * *

There is an empty container of fruit milk sitting in the fridge.

“Mikoto,” he says, “When you’re finished, you should really throw the box away.”

“Finished with what?”

“The peach.” A pause. That didn’t sound right.

“We have a box of peaches?” Mikoto asks from the other room.

“I... _peach_ ” he says again, his brows furrow.

Mikoto steps into the room with a curious look on his face. “Reisi, are you okay?”

“Fine.” he snaps. Why is the word lost to him?

“We can go buy peaches if you want, they should be in season,” Mikoto says cautiously, looking concerned.

Reisi doesn’t reply, he’s still staring into their fridge. It’s right in front of him, why can’t he name it?

“I’m sorry,” he mumbles, closing the door. He is all too aware that Mikoto is not to blame for his own failures. “I shouldn’t have lashed out at you.”

“It’s fine,” a weak smile forms along his face.

Reisi smiles in return. _I’ll remember the name later_ he tells himself.

He doesn’t.

* * *

“Haven’t seen you read that book in a while,” Mikoto says as he enters the living room.

“What book?” Reisi replies, his eyes fixated to the television.

“The one on international law?”

“I didn’t feel like reading it anymore.”

Mikoto stares at him. “You’re not one to give up easily.”

Reisi shrugs. “I didn’t give up, I just lost interest. That’s all.”

Mikoto shakes his head, “You’ve waited _months_ for that edition to come out. It’s hard to believe that dedication to disappear.”

“Well, it did,” he snaps and feels a bit of pleasure seeing the other man wince. “I’m old, you’re old. Things change. Quit badgering me.”

“God, Reisi. I didn’t mean-”

“The Thursday match will be a handful,” he interrupts, obviously annoyed now.

Mikoto’s eyes widen, “What?”

He sees nothing wrong with his words, “The Thursday match will be a handful.”

“Reisi,” Mikoto says with the barest amount of fear present in his voice. “I think you should get some sleep. You’ve been watching T.V. all day, you’re worrying me.”

Reisi can’t help but scoff, “Fine, if it makes you feel any better.” He gets up to head to their bedroom.

He pretends not to notice the concern in Mikoto’s eyes as he leaves the room.

* * *

"You wanna play chess?" Mikoto has the set in his hands.

Reisi shrugs, "I don't see why not."

He hasn't felt...himself as of late. Nothing has drawn his interests. Even doing puzzles seem to be a chore now, Mikoto has been trying to get him to do anything but his heart simply isn't in it. All that he's been wanting to do is watch movies but Mikoto has hidden all of his DVDs.

"Black or white?"

"What's the difference?"

"Well, white goes first."

Reisi hums, "I don't care."

Mikoto winces at his response, "Mmm...you can be white then" he answers.

Reisi watches as his husband sets up the board. Aren't the knights suppose to be closer to the king and queen? Or maybe Mikoto is right and that's suppose to be the bishops...

"Go ahead," Mikoto gestures.

He stares at the black and white pieces, trying to figure out what to do. It feels like this should be something that comes naturally. Somewhere in the back of his muscle memory but his mind is blank. He moves one of the short pieces in the front by a square. That seems like a safe choice.

Mikoto follows suit and they play in silence. Nudging and pushing the pieces here and there when it is their turn.

And then Mikoto throws his hands up, "This is wrong."

"What?"

"I am kicking your ass, this never happens. Look at your pieces, they're all over the place", he takes Reisi's hands, "Tell me what's going on."

"Nothing."

"You've been acting weird for weeks now. Months really, I just thought, y'know, you were getting old," he shrugs.

"Oh thanks." he says sarcastically.

Mikoto shakes his head, "You haven't been in the mood for _anything_ lately. You've been saying crazy shit, watching TV all day, being snippy and now you can't even play chess." he shakily exhales.

"Reisi, you're scaring me. Please tell me what's going on."

When he puts it that way, it scares him too. "I-I don't know."

The other man comes around the table and wraps his arms around Reisi.

"I love you Reisi, I don't want anything to happen to you-"

Reisi feels a heavy weight in his gut.

"-I think we need to go to the hospital"

He closes his eyes and nods as he buries his face in Mikoto's shoulders.

* * *

It's all a blur. A whirlwind of people asking him questions. About himself, his family and so on. It becomes painful when he can't answer some of them.

Some other people ask him odd questions. Mostly things he doesn't really care about but he complies anyway. They asked him to draw a clock one time and he can't help but wonder what is the point?

Sometimes he's in a tube, it's all white and all he hears is a terrible sound. He absolutely hates this, the cramped space is almost too much for him but Mikoto is always there when he comes out.

When it is all done, they give him some pills. Mikoto reassures him that they won't kill him so he swallows them and he sleeps.

* * *

He wakes up and realizes that he is in a hospital room.

Reisi glances around, Mikoto is by his side with an anxious look on his face.

"Hey," Mikoto leans over to hold his hand.

"Hey."

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine." he murmurs as he pushes himself in a sitting position, he can almost hear his own bones creaking in protest. "Although, the last few days are somewhat of a blur..."

Mikoto hums, "You remember why we came here?"

The chess game comes into his mind and he can't help but frown, "Yes."

Mikoto looks at him with an expression he can't quite recognize.

"What did they find, Mikoto?" he forces himself to ask.

"You..." amber eyes look away, his breathing becomes more pronounced.

Reisi is now terrified of the answer but he needs to know. "What did they find?" he repeats.

Mikoto looks back at him, pain clearly painted on his face. "Alzheimer's. You have Alzheimer's, Reisi."

His breath gets caught in his throat, "There isn't a cure for that."

"Yeah." the other whispers, "You're on medication though, it should slow it down. I’ll take care of you,” he gently squeezes his hand. "I love you, and I'm not leaving you. Ever."

Reisi lets out a light laugh, "Since when did you become a romantic?"

Mikoto smiles, visibly relieved and brings their lips together.

He can't help but wonder how long this will last.

* * *

They play chess. It’s a close game but Reisi wins.

Perhaps a miracle will happen.

* * *

“Let’s go on a walk.”

Reisi raises his brow, “Why?”

Mikoto shrugs, “Want to keep in shape.”

He scoffs, “Come now Mikoto, what’s the real reason?”

“Wanting to impress you with my body not a good enough reason?”

Reisi snorts before eyeing his husband, waiting for the answer.

Mikoto sighs and scratches the back of his neck, “I did some research. Walks are suppose to be helpful ‘cause they uh, ‘prevent wandering’, doesn’t hurt to give it a shot.”

And it all comes back to him. This disease that he has tried so hard to forget about, but will be always lingering in the back of his mind. He fears that it will drive him insane.

 _Of course it will_ , he thinks bitterly. _It’s one of the symptoms._

But Mikoto is only trying to help.

“No, I suppose not,” he replies.

They step outside hand in hand.

* * *

It happens again. He knows it was only a matter of time but it still terrifies him.

Mikoto is in the kitchen prepping dinner. The smell of curry and spices emitting throughout their small home.

Reisi walks towards the source of the scents, “Mmm, smells good.”

The other man looks up from the pot he’s stirring, “Wanna try some?” he asks as he dips a spoon in the curry.

He blows over the steaming spoon before putting it in his mouth.

It’s tasty, but also quite spicy. Reisi feels his tongue starting to burn up.

“Christ Mikoto, did you feed this to your clan?”  he says smiling.

“Oi shut it,” the other replies, also grinning. “I’ll have you know Yata cried ‘cause it tasted so good.”

“You sure he wasn’t crying for a different reason?”

Mikoto laughs, “Shush. You gonna help out?” he gestures to the bowl of unrinsed rice.

“If I don’t want to be incapacitated for the evening I suppose so,” he hums as he turns on the sink.

“You questioning my expertise?”

“I would never doubt a bird such as yourself,” Reisi smirks.

Mikoto freezes. “W-what?”

“Bird?” his breathing quickens. _It’s not the right word, is it? O god._

It’s a symptom and they both know it. Despite the medication, it is a clear sign meaning that it is progressing.

“S-someone who is really good at something,” he stammers. “Bird.”

“Did you mean expert?” Mikoto fills in, his hand gently reaches over and begins to gently massage Reisi’s own. “Pro?”

“Yes,” he nods nervously.

They both know that a miracle isn’t going to happen.

* * *

The moment when Mikoto walks into the room, he gets up and kisses him hard on the mouth. “I love you,” he breathes.

The former-red head’s face dissolves into a soft expression, “I love you too, Reisi.”

Reisi wraps his arms around him, “I’ve barely said those words, you deserve to hear it more.”

“Mmm didn’t have to,” he murmurs. “I already knew.”

Reisi’s hands tighten, “Still. I… I want to say it as much as I can.” _While I still can. Before I forget._ The last bit is stuck in his throat.

Mikoto brings his hand to cradle the back of his head, “Reisi…”

He presses his face into Mikoto’s shoulder, “I love you. I love you. I love you. No matter what happens… just know that.”

“Me too,” Mikoto whispers. “I love you so much, Reisi,” he hears the others voice hitch.

They hold onto each other like they’re never going to let go.

**Author's Note:**

> I just wanted some domestic old man au but it just went down to angst-y town :V


End file.
